the golden sunAppreciate
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On a muggy evening in Honolulu, site of Clippers training camp, five-time All-Star Blake Griffin shows me his mettle in the Waikiki Beach surf. He rides a wave with his stand-up paddleboard and yells at me to follow suit: "Keep moving those arms! If you go slow, you'll fall." I go slow. I fall.
Still, Coach Griffin, 28, says I'm doing fine for a rookie, though he repeatedly credits my "low center of gravity" -- because 6-foot-10 forwards are jerks. I credit Griffin's patient but stern tutelage, leadership that will be tested this season as the Clippers seek to integrate a whopping nine new players while adjusting to the absence of Chris Paul, whose six-year term http://www.miamidolphins.us.com/WOMENS-JULIUS-THOMAS-JERSEY.html as Griffin's co-mayor of Lob City ended in June with his trade to the RocketsWe're soon joined in the water by several curious Clippers, including incumbents DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Johnson, who commandeer my board and paddle, respectively. The two instruments have little value when separated, but whatever -- Griffin, leader by land and sea, begins class. "What do you mean, start on my knees?" Jordan asks, just before his 6-11 frame folds Connor Brown Jersey into the ocean. Danilo Gallinari and Willie Reed splash him, for good measure.
Griffin and I paddle away for some quiet, several hundred yards offshore, where he drops to his board, leans back and extends his legs, revealing a 2-inch scar along his right big toe, a souvenir from a May surgery to repair his plantar plate. We chat as the Pacific swallows the golden sunAppreciate it. Yeah, I was happy. This is where I started my career, and it just made sense to stay. When I got here, they'd just won 19 games, and there was the Clippers Curse -- like, all their first-round picks were busts. We broke through that one, then it's like, "They'll never make the playoffs." Now it's, "They'll never get past the second round." So it's just the next curse challenge. I think everybody's ideal is to have a wonderful career with one franchise, like Kobe and Tim DuncanThe owner of the WNBA's San Antonio Stars has an agreement in place with a buyer who plans to move the team to Las Vegas, a source told ESPN's Michael C. Wright on Thursday night.
The sale and relocation now hinge on a final approval from the NBA and WNBA Board of Governors, the source said. The sides expect the deal, which has been in the works for some time, to be OK'd because the team will be moved to Las Vegas, according to the source.
The Stars are one of five pro teams owned and operated by Spurs Sports & Entertainment, including San Antonio's NBA team.
WNBA spokeswoman Dina Skokos confirmed in a statement that there are ongoing talks to sell the franchise but provided no details about the negotiationsWithout specifying the potential Las Vegas buyer, Spurs Sports & Entertainment sent out a message to fans on Twitter, offering its "deepest gratitude" to team employees and fans while saying the organization and the WNBA have been in negotiations with a buyer to purchase and relocate the Stars. A spokesman for Spurs Sports & Entertainment declined comment on a pending Las Vegas move.
The San Antonio Express-News and The Associated Press earlier reported the Stars' potential sale.
The Stars franchise was one of the original eight in the WNBA, but was initially located in Utah and called the Starzz. They played in Salt Lake City for six seasons, then moved to San Antonio for the 2003 season and were called the Silver Stars, which was later shorted to Stars.
San Antonio's peak in the league was a trip to the 2008 WNBA Finals, where the Stars lost 3-0 to Detroit.
San Antonio finished last in the WNBA at 8-26 this season, the third year in a row that the Stars have had the worst record in the league. Their last playoff appearance was in 2014, when current Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon played her final season with the Stars.
San Antonio was 16-18 that year; the Stars' last winning record came in 2012, when they http://www.officialmavericksproshop.com/authentic-41-dirk-nowitzki-jersey.html were 21-13.
The Stars had the No. 1 pick in the Connor Brown Womens Jersey WNBA draft in 2017 and picked Washington's Kelsey Plum. They also have the best odds to get the 2018 No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft lottery, which was abruptly postponed in September and hasn't yet been rescheduled